. 79% of Cameroonians are in favour of a Federal System in Cameroon -Joshua Osih

According to Joshua Osih, the Deputy Vice National Chairperson of the Social Democratic Front SDF, 79% of Cameroonians are in favor of a Federal system of government in Cameroon. He equally states that the major problem of Cameroon is the form and structure of the state. He made this declaration at the Ntarikon Residence of Ni John Fru Ndi on Saturday August 5 shortly after the National Executive Committee Meeting of the Social Democratic Front. He began by touching on the main issues that the NEC meeting explored.

We’ve had an intense meeting and we had important declarations made on the Anglophone issue. We also are aware that responsibilities have to be well defined. We also talked about the President of the Republic and his obligations and the moves he has so far made in recognition of these problems. We talked on the life of the party as well as that of the state and expressed our horror on the attacks of Boko Haram especially that of this evening that resulted into a number of deaths.

Joshua Osih: SDF Vice National Chairman

What is the way forward for Cameroon in the present dead Lock?

Most of the negotiators who sat at the Prime Minister’s table for negotiations ended up in jail and now it is necessary for President Paul Biya to take a decision because he is the only one who can take that decision now to liberate all prisoners of conscience and political prisoners in our jails before we can start talking about political dialogue that can take Cameroon out of its problems and whether kids are going back to school or not. The Social Democratic Front recognises the need for children to go to school and we understand that education is paramount and deplore the fact that schools are closed. We frown and are devastated by the fact that schools have not been opened for a school year but the person responsible for all of this is called Paul Biya. He is the one who can solve that problem and who should have solved it a year ago. It is clear that people should understand our stand on this as it is clearly spelled out in the declarations of our meeting. The Government should demilitarize the North West and South West Regions and should release those detained for a cause that the government itself had recognised and even taken some measures to address them. Since the President of the Republic has recognised that there is a problem he should solve that problem.

Cameroon has sent out delegations to negotiate and carried out Diplomatic offensives. What is your take on this?

 I think they should stop wasting useful money. They should solve the problems at home before moving out of the country. They shouldn’t just go around in some sort of a tourist tour out of the country. Everybody knows there is a problem but what we are waiting from the government is solutions. Cameroon cannot be ruled now as it was in the fifties. The major problem of Cameroon is the form and structure of the state. 79% of Cameroonians are in favor of a Federal System in Cameroon. It is a system in which powers are separated from the centralized system that we have now which is at the heart of bad governance in Cameroon.

With the build up to the reopening of schools in September, there is already a National Debate on the issue. Should children go back to school?

 It is true that there is a national debate on whether schools should reopen or not but the problem is much deeper. Paul Biya has recognised that the problem is deeper and has taken a series of actions which points to the fact that he has recognised this fact. We came out today with a declaration called Declaration of the Fifth of August 2017on the Anglophone Crises. We are very clear that Biya is solely responsible for the present predicament in which the country finds itself, for the terrible situation in the North West and South West Regions and for the terrible situation in which Anglophones find themselves. President Paul Biya is solely responsible for the Anglophone Crises in Cameroon. He is the only one who can find a solution. Since he has refused to solve the problem therefore he has defacto abdicated from his functions so he should go right to the end of that logic and resign from his position.  

Interviewed By Francis Ekongang Nzante (EDEV Web News), Frederique Tarkang(BBC Afrique), Donna Suffo (Le Messager), Wifah Jennyhans (The Sun), Nchong Christantus(The Horizon)

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